The time has finally come for Rockstar Games to unveil the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise: GTA 6. With Trailer 1 being a mere days away, the anticipation feels greater than that of a Super Bowl halftime show.
If that reference doesn’t land, you’re probably from outside of the United States. The Super Bowl is the largest sporting event of the year in North America. It’s akin to the FIFA World Cup but annually instead of every four years. Every year, regardless of what teams make it, every American Football fan anticipates the half-time show.
At the end of the second quarter, the field is cleared for whatever wildly creative stage they can come up with. One year, the spotlight was consumed in fire as Travis Scott and Maroon 5 performed, another featured Lady Gaga flying through the air in football padding, and sometimes they are memorable for completely different reasons. I’m looking at you, Janet Jackson.
So, how does this relate to the GTA 6 Trailer 1?
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GTA 6 Trailer 1 Carries The Largest Weight In Gaming History
Even if you’ve been on tour for decades, performing all over the globe, nothing compares to the weight of the Super Bowl Halftime Show. The artists are in front of the largest crowd of their career, and their singular performance is weighed against all of those who came before. It’s a go big or get roasted scenario, and even a pregnant Rihanna wasn’t immune to some hate after her Super Bowl LVII performance.
GTA 6 holds that same weight, if not much more. The gravity of this single trailer is insurmountable, and Rockstar Games has to deliver or suffer the consequences. It’s been over a decade since GTA 5 was released, and we’re just now receiving the first official look at the next game. The wait has left players ravenous.
Like the halftime show, Grand Theft Auto is recognizable to everyone, even outside of the gaming sphere. It’s up there regarding icon status with Super Mario and Call of Duty. But those games have released several installments over the last ten years, mitigating each new game’s weight.
I’m Terrified To Watch The GTA 6 Trailer, And You Should Be Too
The Super Bowl Halftime Show offers the same cycle of emotions year on end. The excitement of the artist announcement, the wonder of what they could do or sing, the anticipation as the event draws near, and then one of two possible endings. You either walk away satisfied with what Pepsi cooked up or immeasurably disappointed, thinking back to what could have been.
GTA 6 fits this same mold. We’ve got the announcement, and for the next five days, gamers get to theorize what we’ll be shown. Monday, December 4, will feel like Christmas Eve, and the internet will be set ablaze on Tuesday. But what will follow?
I’m honestly terrified to watch the GTA 6 trailer. We’ve spent ten years with GTA 5; how much different will GTA 6 be? How much different do we really want it to be? What features could they possibly add to make the tried and true GTA formula feel worthy of a decade-long wait? Is it even possible, at this point, to satisfy this hunger that’s grown for a decennium?
But Rockstar has to know by now the gravity of their situation. A game that has drawn more speculation, rumors, and fake leaks than any other is finally coming to fruition, and it’s almost too scary to watch.
